


Stories of the Second Self: Chaperone

by John_Steiner



Series: Alter Idem [93]
Category: Urban Fantasy - Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:13:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22606807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/John_Steiner/pseuds/John_Steiner
Summary: On her third date with Gerard, Jolene quickly decides it'll be the last. He drives her to Norwood, where she figures he plans to Open Feed on a resident that won't garner much sympathy. Arguing starts, and Jolene decides she'll calling the night off. However, the five vampires she lives in the historical mortuary have arrived together when Gerard stops. They inform her about Gerard's background.
Series: Alter Idem [93]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1618813





	Stories of the Second Self: Chaperone

"Norwood again?" Jolene griped when she realized which road Gerard pulled onto. "I thought I told you, I don't Open Feed."

"Not saying you have to," Gerard replied, with his eyes still on the road.

It was their third date, but Jolene realized it wasn't going to work out between them. "But you are."

"Hey, it'll be a werewolf, so they'll live through it," Gerard said.

"And report it to police," Jolene added, "I'm not asking about what you did to people before, but if we're going to be together it stops."

Spontaneously, Gerard slammed his steering wheel. "Fuck!"

Pulling over to the side of the road at night would've scared a living woman, but Jolene was as dead as Gerard. If she gauged right from what he said of his life, she probably turned into a vampire a year or so before he did.

"We're talking about this," Gerard insisted as he opened his door.

That was the other irritating thing he did, Jolene thought. If it was something she wanted it was subject to debate, or argument more accurately. But when Gerard wanted something it was final.

"Why don't you want me getting something to eat the way I like to get it?" Gerard snapped waving his hands out pacing in front of his car.

"Because it's the fucking law!" Great, Jolene thought, now she was pissed too. "I had to get an EMT card, but if you put the work in it's not that hard! You said you did some shit, and didn't say what. Okay, I didn't push you on that, but whatever it was those days are over."

"Do you think you can still be one of them?" Gerard pointed at her in accusation. "You're not anymore. That's what's over, forever."

"I know that," Jolene yelled, "Doesn't mean I have to get burned down in some forgotten park or lot.

"What're you saying?" Gerard appeared to have taken that as a threat.

"I knew someone who Open Fed," Jolene clarified, "As in not anymore. Someone decided they weren't havin' it and killed her with a big-assed UVC light. Her boyfriend too. In fact, it was in Norwood."

"No way," Gerard refused to accept it and stared off at the neighborhoods he'd been previously driving toward.

"Look, just do what I do," Jolene said, taking a step closer.

"Stand on some street corner like a pusher, but begging like an addict?" Gerard sounded hurt, which Jolene suspected was an act, as he went on. "Fuck that. I deserve better. So do you."

"I just want a nice easy life," Jolene protested, "That's my better. What's wrong with that?"

"And hanging on to your human kid?" Gerard finally crossed That Line.

"My son, yes," Jolene yelled, and stabbed a finger at his back. "And if you're making me choose between him and you then you're out."

He whirled around suddenly with a taunting expression. "Oh, Jolene's gonna try the single mother life and maybe get respect from the Beaters."

It was a term Jolene hadn't heard often, but some vampires referred to living people, humans in particular, as Beaters referring to still having a heartbeat.

"I don't give a shit if they accept me and Terry," Jolene insisted, and inside realized she believed it. "So whatever your game is, you're not making me abandon my son."

Down the road approached another car, but Jolene recognized it immediately. There were five people inside, and none of them gave off body heat beyond what they absorbed from their surroundings. She stared in amazement, as Ramsey brought the SUV to a stop behind Gerard's car.

"Who're these people?" Gerard demanded.

"They're the ones who live in the restored mortuary with me," Jolene explained, as she watched Ramsey, Karen, Gordon, Mikey, and Quinn all get out to gather around Gerard's car.

"Did some checking up on this guy," Mikey pointed at Gerard.

"Why's it take all five of you to tell me that?" Jolene asked.

"Jolene," Karen said, coming up to her. "He's not just some guy who doesn't play by the rules. Apparently, he's one of the Hard Six."

"I don't know who that is." Confused, Jolene shook her head.

"It means," Ramsey filled in, "These six hard cases who went on a fuckin' all out killing spree the moment they turned into vampires. Texas Highway Patrol lost an entire shift to these guys, but they managed to take one of them down beforehand."

Jolene stared wide-eyed at Gerard anew. Gerard just looked off at the same neighborhood he wanted to go for. Mikey folded his beefy arms studying Gerard, and he wasn't the only one keeping an eye on her date.

The story of rampaging bikers hit the news in Texas, but that night's massacre became a national headline shortly before the whole country went to pieces.

"Needless to say," Ramsey continued, "When Mikey told us we all got into the truck and went looking for you."

By now Quinn had pulled out a UVC-converted Mag-lite that ran off four D-cell batteries. He was tapping it against his thigh as a message to Gerard.

Turning, Gerard clearly understood, but glowered at them all. "What are you, the vampire police?"

"Concerned roommates," Mikey corrected with a severe expression one might've expected from Dexter Morgan.

Ramsey picked it up from there. "Cops don't need us on the streets policing our own. Quite a few vampires just up and vanished after a police raid. I just assume that they not scoop the rest of us up, 'just to be thorough,' you know."

"Sorry, Gerard," Jolene said, not that she was really sorry. "But it's over."

The six of them flinched when Gerard pounded his fist on his own car so hard the entire front of the vehicle bounced, and the dent guaranteed he'd need to replace the hood. Quinn stopped tapping the UVC light, and he changed his grip on it to have his thumb on the switch. Karen also had her hand reached into her jacket.

"Come on, Jolene," Ramsey said, "I'm driving you back home."

"You're the last one left, right?" Mikey remarked, still ready to get physical. "I was in Norwood when the National Guard's supernaturals rolled that place. A giant with a minigun isn't someone you wanna fuck with. Is it?"

Karen guided Jolene to Ramsey's SUV and opened the door for her. The rest followed, while Gerard just stared at Jolene herself. She could tell some part of him was screaming to turn his life around, but he still had too far to go for her to ride with him.

With everybody in, Ramsey backed up and U-turned around toward Silverton. Jolene rocked with the bumps of the road staring blankly out the window. Karen wasn't the type to do the whole comforting close friend thing, nor was Jolene looking for that, but Karen did lean against Jolene's shoulder.

That was as close to a hug as Jolene was going to get, but it was good enough. She wondered if she would've cried over Gerard if she were still living, but she knew she didn't feel the need to.


End file.
